Arcadia
by ArcadiaDouglass
Summary: When a girl sudenly find herself in a new land surrounded by creatures of myth she seeks to find a way to get back to her time and find the end to her "gifts" so she can live a normal life.


In the beginning...

MILITARY NEWS February 13, 1942: TOP SECRET

U.S. Navy experiments concerning Einstein's unified theory ( code named Project Rainbow) go seriously wrong, leading to the deaths of several Navy crewmen. Sources state that during an attempt to use magnetic fields to cloak a ship from enemy radar, a destroyer escort ship, the USS Eldridge, was exposed to huge amounts of electromagnetic energy. It was stated by witnesses, on observing ships, that the ship was rendered invisible, both on radar and optically. The ship was stated to have disappeared from view in the Philadelphia ship yard only to have appeared in Norfolk, Virginia, then vanishing again and reappearing in it's original ship yard in the exact same place it vanished from, all within a matter of minutes.

The crew suffered from a wide range of side effects. Several crewmen were missing completely. Others on board were violently ill and most shocking of all, five sailors were actually fused into the ships metal superstructure. Those that survived, seemingly without anything wrong, began to suffer a wide range of physical and psychological effects days later and were ultimately discharged from duty as mentally unfit. Little was thought of these side effects until a sailor was rendered invisible during a bar room scuffle. The episodes continued, sailors were freezing and becoming invisible over and over. Some were reported to burst into flames while attending public functions. END

But the most tragic story of all is of a sailor, who while out with his wife and newborn child, walked into a wall, passed through it and disappeared from view forever. His story does not end there....

His family, a young bride and newborn child became known as the Project Rainbow refugees. They were left without support following the father's disappearance. When it was discovered that she had conceived the child shortly after the project Rainbow experiments, the young mother was given no choice but to accept a small pension offered by the government. She was " encouraged" not to look into the disappearance of her husband. Even after the mother gave birth to a healthy baby boy in April of 1944, the Government continued to monitor the family for " security reasons".

The child, known in government records simply as Douglas, had a relatively unremarkable childhood, but after reaching adulthood and marrying in 1966 events began to occur that can, at the least, be considered as intriguing. Following the deaths of his mother and younger sibling in a car accident in Spokane, Washington, strange feelings, as well as physical and emotional changes caused Douglas to research his family history.

In 1971,a daughter was born to Douglas. She was healthy and happy, but in 1973 her mother and father disappeared in a mysterious plane crash south of Miami, Florida, leaving the child with only clouded memories. Due to antiquated records keeping, her only ties to her past were a post card mailed to her from her father during a trip to Seattle, Washington and a stack of cryptic notes left in an old dusty binder. Satisfied that this child would not be able to discern the true history of her family, the government ended their surveillance and thus closed the books on Project Rainbow and it's refugees..Or so they thought.

Chapter 2

After being passed from foster home to foster home, the girl began to notice that she was bit " different" from other girls her age. Due to these differences she was labeled as "troubled" by the foster service agencies. In 1987, as changes in her body began to accelerate, she was placed with Martial Arts Master Ming Tsai Chau. It seems that the decision was based on the fact that the girl needed "discipline".

As she studied the martial arts, she began to dig into the reasons for her differences. Names, facts, and details all came to light when she met Charles Berlitz, a noted expert on Project Rainbow, at a book signing. Using the library and a list of resources supplied by Mr. Berlitz, she began to put the pieces of her enigmatic life together.

One after noon during a particularly frustrating training session, she suddenly began to feel "blurry". As her Master struck an offensive blow, she disappeared and reappeared behind him, allowing her to take the upper hand in the exercise. Somewhat surprised but intrigued, her Master began to experiment, trying to find the limitations of her abilities. He pressed her to excel in her training. As she grew stronger in her martial arts skills, she also learned to control her "gifts". It was discovered during a routine trip to the doctor that she had a unique molecular instability. The doctor determined that intake of large quantities of water would control the side effects of her condition.

During a fairly intense exercise, Master Chau was injured. Absorbing a blow he had broken several ribs. He did not disclose this information to the girl because he did not want the exercise to end prematurely. Becoming frustrated by the sudden lack of challenge presented by her master, she was suddenly struck with an awareness that was she not familiar with. She saw what he saw, felt what he was experiencing. She rushed to him, not to complete the attack but to check on his health, resting her hands on his injured ribs. She felt helpless in the presence of his discomfort, and her frustrations increased as his pain grew stronger. Suddenly a warmth, a soft feeling of comfort radiated from her hands. With a quizzical look on his face, her Master remarked that the ribs, which were certainly broken, felt better and they continued on with the exercise.

As her research into her life continued, she began to form a mistrust for the U.S. Government. Ming Tsai Chau's experiments continued as she gained more control over her gifts. Soon it was discovered that not only could she move from place to place through physical objects, she could also move backward and forward in time. She was product of all of Einstein's theories. Space was her only stopping point. She could move anywhere and go at any time simply by allowing her emotions to excite her body's molecules.

The girl continued to study self-defense, learning more hand to hand combat techniques flawlessly, but also learning more conventional methods of defense and fighting. She became a master marksman and avid collector of weapons. She began to expand her knowledge of the government, knowing that one day she would have to call on every resource at her disposal to survive, to even exist.

Ming Tsai Chau was not the only on interested in her "talents". The U.S. Navy discovered that this descendant of Project Rainbow was close to discovering the truth of her origins. Aware of her importance, the Navy set out to ensure her cooperation or her silence, which ever was easier.

Chapter 3

She spent 10 years with Master Chau. As she grew wiser, learned more of the martial arts and more of herself, she began to feel like she needed to focus her energies on finding out the truth about her family and past. As she and Master Chau sat for dinner on her 26th birthday, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. As she rose to answer the door, she felt unsettled, as if something wasn't right about the situation. She leaned in to kiss her now aged master on the cheek. She whispered" I love you," speaking words,that in 26 years, she had never spoken. Her master nodded and turned his attentions back to his dinner.

As she opened the door, she heard a crash of glassware behind her. Turning from the door, she suddenly found herself held by a powerful man wearing a Navy uniform. A man wearing a simple black suit spoke to her as she struggled to get free from the man holding her. " We know...we know who you are. We know what you are and if you work with us, we can help you get the answers you are looking for." Another crash from the back room and weak cry of "help me little one!" He had always called her little one, saying when the time was right a name would present itself. Feeling tears welling up for fear for her Master, she suddenly found herself free of the man holding her. Spinning through the air, she landed a deadly kick to the temple of the man who had held her. With a shout of "It's gone bad!", from the man in black, a sudden report of a hand gun being discharged from the next room made her heart stop. She felt it before she would admit it to herself, her Master was dying.

With a vicious sweep to the legs, the man in black fell to the floor dropping the gun he held in his hand. As he reached out for the 9mm, he felt a hand on his throat, slowing him, but not keeping him from his quest. He continued to crawl to the weapon. As his hand reached for the handle, he felt a release of pressure on his windpipe. Just a second passed as he looked towards his hand and the gun. The gun was gone. He strained to look up and as he did, he saw only two crystal blue eyes and then nothing, only darkness.

Slowly, painfully, the man opened his eyes. He realized things has gone very wrong. He struggled against the bonds that held him in a dining room chair,looking around for anyone left to help him. He sees his three operatives in various positions laying on the floor, obviously in a mortal's last sleep. The girl kneels over her master in tears.

She holds his hand ,telling him, " Master I can heal you. I can make you better."

With a combination of pride and sadness in his eyes he speaks softly, " No little one, my time is past. You are complete in your training. Please let me pass through the gates to be with my ancestors. I have lived my life and you have made it complete. You are the legacy I leave behind."

" But Master..."

"No, there is no discussion here." His voice grows weaker. "There is not much time left. Go to the wall and bring me my staff."

She rushes to the display and returns with a simple oak staff. She places the staff in her master's hands. "This gift I give to you. It has passed through my family for 200 years and now I give it to you, for you are my only family. Carry it with honor little one. I love you, never forget that you are special. Special to me and to this world. Carry that as a badge of honor and not a curse."

Falling to his chest, she buries her face in his tunic. As he places his hand on her head, she feels his body go limp. As he breathes one last time, he whispers " I love you." and passes through the gates to a warrior's heaven.

Alone again, her life again changed by mystery and intrigue, death and unknowing. She turns to the man she has bound in the entry way to the house.


End file.
